Allegations that militants linked to Somalia’s Al-Shabaab have appeared alongside General al-Burhan’s SAF in Kordofan have triggered fresh concern over the growing extremist footprint inside Sudan’s war.
The claims spread across Sudanese Arabic social media accounts after footage circulated showing armed men in a combat zone, with one individual heard chanting: “We do not fear fighting. We are the light and we are the fire.” Several accounts described the men as Somali Al-Shabaab militants operating beside SAF units in Kordofan, though the footage has not been independently verified.
The allegations come weeks after TASIS leader Dagalo warned that SAF’s intelligence apparatus was attempting to bring Al-Shabaab militants into the war, a claim carried by Sudanese outlets in February.
Al-Shabaab is a Somalia-based Al-Qaeda affiliate and is listed by the United States as a foreign terrorist organisation. The UK also proscribes the group, while the UN says Al-Shabaab threatens peace and security in Somalia.
If confirmed, the presence of Al-Shabaab-linked militants in Kordofan would mark a dangerous escalation in Sudan’s conflict, reinforcing warnings that SAF’s war effort has become increasingly dependent on Islamist and foreign militant networks rather than a national army structure.
The footage also adds pressure on regional and international actors to investigate whether Sudan is being turned into a new operating space for extremist groups under the cover of SAF’s battlefield mobilisation.
SAF has not issued a credible public explanation addressing the footage or the specific allegations.
